Between going out in separate directions, I was greeted with this fun PM and I have had the rest of the day to let it fester in my mind:
THIS IS NOT TARGETED TO ANYONE SPECIFIC, BUT I NEED TO GET THIS OUT.******* wrote:Subject: April Favorites
Hi Notread,Notread wrote:Head north and we will work that secret spot of mine. Flipped some nice things on it yesterday, but the nicer things will be out soon.brick911 wrote: I get out A LOT. Don't worry about who's finding what. I see people finding herps I'm not finding and it makes me want to run out and look, but honestly we all have different situations. I have more free time without my kids here. I need to fill it with something, ya know.
Edit: BTW, nice shots!
Please use discretion in regards to bringing people to your secret spot. In addition to the phone/utility guys that frequent it, It is also too well known by herpers for any more to be visiting it. Especially if rocks are going to be flipped and hooks used. In addition, I believe there are some studies being conducted there. Hope you understand, I am concerned by the increased herper traffic. The snakes there are very skittish as it is.
thanks,
**
Lets face reality here. Between Doug and I, we have secret spots which no one gave us, no one showed us, and no one knows from New York to Florida and everything in between. We have secret spots which we developed on our own in FOREIGN FREAKING COUNTRIES. This PM represents a growing trend on this forum.
A picture shows a leaf and you people claim to recognize a spot. Heck, People claim to recognize spots based on "recognizing a snake". Come on. There are soooooo few pine snakes (just as a semi-random example) in the world that you can recognize a snake? Give it a rest and face reality. You don't know the snake. It may resemble a snake you've seen, but you don't know the snake. That leaf you used to ID a spot may very well be similar to a leaf you saw in another spot, but that doesn't make it yours.
This author of the above PM even goes as far as to say he knows my "secret spot" with out even a picture! He's based his guess solely on the words "Head north and we will work that secret spot of mine. Flipped some nice things on it yesterday, but the nicer things will be out soon." WOOOOOO! Look at all the details those two sentences revealed. We know Bricky is in the Philly region, so obviously north of that. We know that there are nice things under rocks there, and that at some point, something nicer will be there. Perhaps copperheads, perhaps migrating blue herons, or perhaps strawberries and red sumac. Who the (insert cartoon style censoring here) is to say?
Unlike some people, I work hard at developing new spots. I leave trails. No one has to show me a location... I'll find it. It's what I do. I am a field herper, and I am some what decent naturalist at that. If I don't find it on the first try, I research some more and try again. People think everything is heavily herped, well find your own darn spots and you'll never find another herper there. If your mindset tells you that you know every locality for a given species, get off your high horse.
I'm not the best herper; I am certainly not the best photographer, but I am good enough at what I do to satisfy me and that is all that counts. Sometimes it seems that this hobby is over run by ego driven psychos who feel the need to know every spot, recognize every snake, scold people at every chance, and make false claims just to feel like big shots. News flash: My life list is likely bigger than all those people with the big old egos and I worked hard on my own or with my friends to find those species. With a handful of exceptions, I haven't needed anyone to show me anything (and regarding those exceptions, thank you).
So the entire point directed at the community in general (if you feel offended or the need to argue these points, then it is probably directed at you too): Chill out, step off your soap boxes, take a breath, and accept that you simply do not know everything, everywhere. Accept that when you first started getting into herping you were a new guy. Accept that not all new people are evil poachers of doom and they need to be felt out on an individual basis. Accept that guiding new people is a positive way to pay back a community that once accepted you as the new guy. And finally, don't be a condescending jerk. Jerkbaggery is never acceptable.
Rant complete. Have a nice day.